All Dinosaurs had feathers? Yes according to recent studies on Dinosaur fossils. New fossils having been discovered in Siberia of a dinosaur species Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus have led some scientists to theorise that all dinosaurs might have had feathers. They based their speculations on the fact that they found highly preserved feathers on the fossils of the Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus.

Birds are said to have evolved from dinosaurs; more specifically, the theropod dinosaurs which are thought to have emerged on the surface of the Earth 230 million years ago. It has been demonstrated that these dinosaurs had feathers over their bodies – pretty bizarre to imagine dinosaurs with feathers, right? Now, new evidence has been suggesting that possibly all dinosaurs had feathers. This was deduced from the fossils of a herbivorous dinosaur, known as Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, found in Siberia, in the Kulinda site. This dinosaur has only been recently discovered back in 2013. From the dating techniques that were used to determine its age, it seems that it lived on our planet around 169-150 million years ago.

Description of the Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus

It made approximately 3 meters in length, equipped with relatively short forelimbs with longer hind legs. These conclusions were based on hundreds of skeletons which were incomplete. The skeletons might have been dispersed if the dinosaurs lived in environments that had water bodies, such that, at their death, the bodies would flow in the water and thereby getting separated.

These fossilized samples revealed the presence of feathers.

The feathers

The feathers discovered from this newly discovered dinosaur had been very much well-preserved. Experts were hence able to evaluate their anatomy. They were found to be made of filaments connecting at the base. Scientists theorised that the feathers might have served as insulation. They could also have been a precursor to the ability of flying.

Examining the fossils further, the experts suggested that feathers were not so much of a rare characteristic of dinosaurs: it was pretty much common to be found on relatively small dinosaurs.

How reliable are these theories though? At this stage, these are merely speculations. We cannot be sure that all dinosaurs indiscriminately had feathers. Much more research will have to be done to validate these theories.